Guangdong Customs Building

Guangdong Customs was established in 1685, which was one of the earliest customs in China. In 1860, the Department of Taxation of Guangdong Customs established an official office at the current customs site. The building is located in the north and south, four stories high. The basic layout and structure of the building are well preserved.

Former site of Guangdong Customs

synonym

Guangdong Customs Building generally refers to the former site of Guangdong Customs

The mansion of the canton customs is a European neoclassical building in Liwan District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, commonly known as the bell tower. It is an important historical site and representative building in modern times. It is located at No. 29, Yanjiang West Road, Lianqing community, Lingnan street, Liwan District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China, adjacent to the Pearl River. The foundation was laid on March 28, 1914. It was planned by David C Dick, the British chief engineer of the Department of customs and excise, and designed by C. D Arnott, the British architect. It has been 100 years since the foundation was built in imitation of the European classical architectural form. There is a rare and well preserved English mechanical transmission vertical clock in the bell tower.

The bell music adopts the time chime of Westminster Palace in England. The chime can be heard in all directions within 1 km. The bell tower is a dome, 13 meters high, with double columns on all sides. The building area of the clock tower is 62 square meters, which is divided into two floors: the bottom is the clock room, in which there are five copper pendants of different calibres; the top is the clock room, with 2.5 meters diameter outward round clock faces on each side, which is bright day and night, and can play music and tell the time 24 hours a day. It used to be the standard time reference of Guangzhou people in the past, and also the memory of many old neighborhoods in Guangzhou.

The clock tower was built by Huachang engineering company in June 1916. It is a four story building with a total height of 31.85 meters and a construction area of 4044 square meters. It is a reinforced concrete frame structure and costs 210000 silver Liang.

The Customs was founded in 1685 (the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty). Together with Jiang customs and Jin customs, it is known as the three major customs of the Qing Dynasty. The building witnessed the development of Chinese customs from the Qing Dynasty to the founding of the people's Republic of China, and has important historical research value. In August 1993, Guangzhou Municipal People's government announced it as a cultural relic protection unit. On May 25, 2006, it was approved by the State Council to be listed in the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relic protection units.

Architectural features

The white ancient Roman style of the building is a typical European neoclassical architecture spread to China in modern times. The foundation was laid in 1914. It was planned by David C Dick, the British chief engineer of the General Revenue Department of customs, designed by C. D Arnott, the British Royal architect, and constructed by Huachang engineering company. It was completed in June 1916. The building is located in the north and south, with four floors. The total height of the bell tower is 31.85 meters, and the building area is 4044 square meters. It is a reinforced concrete frame structure. The southeast facade is built with granite, and the northwest facade is built with red brick wall. The whole reinforced concrete structure is based on large stone. The first floor is in the form of base, which is built with marble to make the smooth columns on the upper floor contrast with the railings decorated with flower cakes. The front exterior wall is inlaid with granite columns and slates. The front and East colonnades are all double columns. The colonnade imitates the Roman Ionian style and runs through the second and third floors. The fourth floor is the Roman TASS style. Each room is tall and spacious, with soft light and fireplace. The top of the doors and windows is slightly flat arched. There are tall black teak windows and wooden doors. There are two small doors in the middle of the wooden door. The corridor is paved with exquisite terraced tile floor and colorful ceramic tile wainscot. The bell tower with Baroque style dome is 13 meters high and has a construction area of 62 square meters. It is divided into two floors: the lower part is the clock room, in which there are five copper pendants of different calibres, which were made in England in 1915; the upper part is the clock room, in which there are the rare and well preserved English mechanical transmission vertical clocks. Each side of the clock tower has a 2.5-meter-diameter outer circular clock face. It is bright day and night, and can play music 24 hours to tell the time. The whole building cost 210000 silver. "Guangdong Customs" was originally engraved on the top of the door, which was replaced by "Guangzhou Customs" after 1949 and restored to its original state in 2007.

historical background

In 1684 (the 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty), the Qing government opened the sea ban and set up four Customs: Guangdong (in Guangzhou), Fujian (in Xiamen), Jiang (in Yuntai Mountain, near today's Lianyungang) and Zhejiang (in Ningbo). In 1757 (the 22nd year of Qianlong's reign), Xiamen, Yuntaishan and Ningbo customs were closed, leaving only one port of Guangzhou for foreign trade, thus Guangdong Customs occupied an important position. The Qing Dynasty emperor dispatched "supervisors" to manage the customs affairs of Guangdong Province. He took the position of Manchu as a relative. He had an official rank parallel to the governor and the governor, but with a slightly later rank.

Before the Opium War, the Guangdong Customs did not directly manage the foreign merchants who came to Guangdong for trade, but managed them through the franchised firm ShiSanHang. After the Opium War, the monopoly of foreign trade by the thirteen branches was abolished, and Guangdong Customs began to directly intervene in foreign trade management.

During the second Opium War, Britain seized the control of Chinese customs. In October 1859 (the ninth year of Xianfeng), the British general taxation department of the customs, Li Thai, seized the administrative power of the Guangdong Customs. Since then, the Guangdong Customs has been controlled by imperialism until the liberation of Guangzhou.

On June 1, 1931, changguan, which was 50 miles away from the Guangdong sea, was changed to be under the jurisdiction of the customs agency, which was called sub card or sub customs, and was under the management of the Department of Taxation of Guangdong Customs (hereinafter referred to as Guangdong Customs).

Guangzhou was liberated on October 14, 1949. On January 31, 1950, the Department of Taxation of Guangdong customs changed its name to "Guangzhou Customs of the people's Republic of China", which is directly under the General Administration of Customs of the Central People's government.

2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the completion of the "bell tower". The former site of Guangdong Customs is the second and the first state-owned Museum directly under the Customs after the China Customs Museum in Beijing. It was registered by the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of cultural relics on December 28, 2015. It is mainly engaged in the collection of cultural relics related to Guangdong Customs, protection of cultural relics and buildings, display, academic research, social education, cultural exchange and development of cultural and creative products, so as to deeply excavate the historical and cultural connotation of Guangdong Customs and highlight the important role of customs work in promoting foreign economic and trade.

The best of modern times

The "bell tower" is one of the earliest buildings in the modern architectural history of Guangzhou: one of the earliest buildings with reinforced concrete frame structure; one of the earliest office buildings with vertical elevators; one of the earliest buildings with imported tiles and mosaics for interior decoration; one of the earliest office buildings with fire escapes and escape routes, which still meet the needs of fire protection. In April 1925, the architectural photos were sent to the "American architectural technology competition" for display.

Historical evolution

Guangdong Customs was established in 1685 (the 24th year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty). It is one of the earliest customs established in China. In 1860 (the 10th year of Xianfeng), the Department of Taxation of Guangdong Customs officially established an office at the building. The original building was demolished in 1913. In 1914 (the third year of the Republic of China), the foundation of the Guangdong Customs Building was laid. It was designed by British architect David Dick and modeled on the European classical architecture. It was constructed by Huachang engineering company and completed in May 1916. In April 1925, architectural photos were sent to the "American architectural technology competition" for display. On September 12, 2006, the office of Guangzhou Customs officially withdrew from the Guangdong Customs Building, which has been in use for 91 years, and moved to Zhujiang New City, the four character District of "Guangzhou Customs" above the gate of Guangdong Customs before Tianhe restoration. The General Administration of Customs approved in February 2007 that the "bell tower" of Guangzhou Customs will be built into a branch of China Customs Museum. In August 2007, the project of restoration and maintenance was completed. The Customs Museum was completed on December 28 of the same year and opened to the public at the right time.

Opening up

The former site of Guangdong Customs is the only Customs Museum in mainland China. The layout of the former site of Guangdong Customs was completed on December 28, 2007. It is open to appointment visits from government agencies, schools, enterprises and institutions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On September 20 and 28, 2009, it was opened to the public for two days on a trial basis. From January 13, 2010, it was changed to open to the public free of charge every Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with valid ID cards and other certificates, citizens can get tickets to enter the museum free of charge. They can visit the exhibition rooms of the museum on the first to fourth floors. The roof and the clock tower above are not open. The daily number of visitors is limited to 800; Since January 2011, the opening hours of the museum have been reduced again. The museum is only open to individuals on Wednesdays of the third week of each month. The arrangement of free collection of vouchers is maintained. The opening hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and social organizations can still make appointment for group visits on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with official letters from their units.

Related information

The big bell at the former site of Guangdong Customs once sounded music every 15 minutes. In the late 1980s, considering that the ringing of the big bell would affect the rest of the surrounding residents, the customs should pay attention to the city

Chinese PinYin : Yue Hai Guan Da Lou